Dear Friends,
The most important event of note in November was the seventieth anniversary of profession of Dom Wulstan
Hibberd. Although the grand celebration was November 2002, his sixtieth anniversary of ordination, Dom
Wulstan sang the Suscipe with strong voice and signed a new profession chart after renewing his vows at the
Conventual Mass on the Solemnity of All Saints.
Those of you who have read early editions of Laudetur, will perhaps remember that Farnborough enjoyed the
rather pejorative nickname of ‘the book factory’ at the beginning of the twentieth century. History is in
danger of repeating itself! At the beginning of the month, hot on the heels of Looking Again at the
Question of the Liturgy with Cardinal Ratzinger, we published our next publication, a new edition of the
classic manual The Ceremonies of the Roman Rite Described. There was hardly a day in November when the
outgoing post didn’t contain a good number of these, and our overseas distributors have taken hundreds of
copies.
The middle weekend of November was particularly busy. Having spent much of the previous weeks preparing our
various products for the 'Towards Advent' festival at Westminster Cathedral Hall, a heavily-laden car was
despatched in the early hours. The day was a tremendous success from a financial point of view and from all
the contacts we were able to establish or renew with other Catholic organisations.
My own arrival was delayed by the fact that the Benedictine nuns of Tyburn had invited us to assist at a
Mass offered by Cardinal Pompedda, who was in London for a celebration of the Constantinian Order of Saint
George. Dom Alcuin raced from Westminster to Tyburn to assist as deacon at the Mass, and to order the
ceremonies. After a hasty buffet we taxied together back to Westminster to conclude the day.
Dom Alcuin gave a paper at the annual CIEL gathering in Paris. CIEL is a French-based group whose acronym
stands for the Centre International d’Etudes Liturgiques. This organisation dedicates itself to making
available scholarship on the history and character of the Roman Liturgy. The first of two instalments of
Dom Alcuin’s paper is published in this edition of Laudetur.
As we end 2003, we give thanks to Almighty God for all the blessings he has bestowed upon us in this past
year. We thank you, our readers for your support and encouragement, and we look forward in hope to the new
year of grace, 2004.
With every good wish,
Sincerely in the Lord,
rchived 
ews
